The Beauty and the Beasts
by obsessedwithstabler
Summary: And from the depths of the forest, a call still sounded.


I felt inspired after watching Buffy with my dad, and I came up with this (along with several other ideas). This is a brief oneshot taking place in the episode The Beauty and the Beasts, during the scene where Angel saves Buffy and ending just before the Scoobies discuss why Pete killed Debbie. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope everyone enjoys it.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

BTVSBTVSBTVSBTVS

He wasn't exactly sure how he knew, but he knew.

Buffy was in danger.

So he ran to her, the chains rattling and heavy on his wrists. But his battered mind didn't care. All that mattered was the instinct driving him, the need to protect what was his.

He came to a clearing, and in the air he could smell her. Buffy. His body propelled him toward an abandoned building, and without hesitation, he threw the doors open. The scent of evil and danger sent him into overdrive, and he snarled viciously as he looked at the misshapen thing in front of him. Buffy was on the floor, and he could feel the fear and anger rolling off of her in waves. It only fueled his own rage.

Without hesitation, he lunged forward and slammed his shackles against the demon's head several times. The demon swung back, but only succeeded in enraging Angel further. Suddenly the thing's hands were around his throat. Angel heard Buffy move nearby just before the thing threw him to the floor and turned its back on him.

That was its fatal mistake.

Pushing himself up, Angel swung his feral eyes toward the thing, It was advancing on Buffy. Growling viciously, Angel flung himself to his feet and wrapped the chain around the thing that posed a threat to Buffy. With no effort, he flipped it over his back and onto the floor. Then he tightened the chain around the thing's neck until he heard the finality of a neck snapping. Grunting, Angel released the body and let it fall to the floor.

Finally the threat to his woman was gone. He felt a strange sense of relief, along with other emotions that his battered mind couldn't yet sort through, or even identify. Soft snorts and grunts escaped his lips as some of his rage slowly slipped away. He turned around, toward her, and more of the rage disappeared.

She was standing there, just a few feet away, tensed and poised to fight. He had only seen her in his mind while he was trapped in the hell dimension, and the need to reach out and touch her was almost unbearable. Slowly he began to move toward her, as though she might disappear at any moment. His vampire visage slipped away, and along with it the remnants of his anger.

His lips moved, uttering the first coherent word he'd been able to manage since he was spit out of Hell and landed on the floor of his mansion.

"Buffy?"

The word was uttered in almost complete disbelief, and the sound sent a knife through Buffy's heart. Her mouth fell open as Angel fell to his knees in front of her and grabbed onto her like a lifeline. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think as he clung to her and wept.

"Buffy…"

"Angel…" Buffy could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks, but she made no move to wipe them away. Angel was holding tight to her, his muscled arms locked tightly around her slender waist. Violent tremors went through his body, and her shirt was growing damp with his tears.

The sound of his name on her lips was both foreign and familiar, like the faintest of pleasant memories. The wild beast inside of him still howled, but for now, was sated by the blood of the thing that had threatened his woman's life, and the closeness of that same woman now. He buried his face in her abdomen, his fingers clutching at the soft fabric of her shirt.

They stayed like that for a while, until Buffy finally dropped to her knees and gently guided Angel into her arms. He went willingly, burying his face in the soft skin of her neck. She was still reeling with disbelief. She had killed him, and somehow he was back in her arms. The need to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming was strong, but she knew that she was wide awake, and he was there. She rested her head against his and closed her eyes. "Angel…"

He sniffled against her neck. "Buffy…" His voice was weak and broken, but somehow he had found his way back to her. Somehow, everything would be okay again.

"Shh…" Her hand came up and moved slowly through his thick hair. She could feel him jerk and shudder beneath her touch, but she didn't let it deter her. He had been trapped in some kind of hell dimension, likely for thousands of years. He had only just found his way back to her physically. Mentally and emotionally would take a lot of time and patience on her part. "I'm here now, Angel. I'm here."

She wasn't sure exactly how long she held him like that, but eventually she realized that she needed to get him somewhere safe before the sun came up. He was still a vampire who needed to be protected from the sun, and she was responsible for him. Gently gripping Angel's shoulders, Buffy pulled back just enough so that she could see his face. His face was filthy and lathered in sweat and tears, but it was him. She felt an unexpected surge of gratitude to whatever forces had given him back to her. Her fingers trembled as she gently wiped a tear away.

"We need to get you out of here," she whispered. "Do you understand me, Angel?"

Her words were so filled with love and warmth, he couldn't help leaning into her hand. "Yes," he managed hoarsely.

She was surprised by his coherence, but she recovered quickly and smiled. "Good." Wrapping her arms around him, she slowly stood. He followed and leaned heavily against her.

He wasn't light, but she was able to lead him out of the building. Luckily the mansion wasn't far away, and within a half-hour she was guiding him into his mansion. She could see the spot where he had landed after being spit out of the hell dimension, and she was careful to lead him around it.

His energy was completely spent, and suddenly he stumbled and dropped to the floor.

Buffy followed him, concerned. "Angel?" She rested a gentle hand on his back. "Angel, can you make it to the bed?"

He shook his head. The room was spinning around him. He rested his head on the cool floor and closed his eyes.

"Okay." With gentle hands, she lifted his head. Then she slid between his head and the floor, allowing his head to rest comfortably in her lap.

Angel tensed for a brief moment before forcing himself to relax. This was Buffy. She would never hurt him. Her scent and the feel of her hands was deeply comforting. Slowly he settled down in her lap, though his muscles still twitched spastically.

Buffy continued to hold him for hours, just breathing him in and reacquainting herself with the dips and curves of his body. He fell asleep not long after collapsing into her lap, and she would never begrudge him the first amount of decent sleep he'd had in too long. She just held him and stared at him as he twitched and groaned in his sleep.

"I love you, Angel."

The sound of her voice seemed to soothe him, much to her surprise. So she continued to speak, saying nothing of real importance, but focusing on her cadence and tone. "Everything is going to be okay, Angel. We'll figure this out." At the moment, she didn't care how anyone else would react to his unexpected return. There would be time soon enough to deal with that. All she cared about in that moment with him was that he was there, and she was holding him. She could protect him, keep him safe. And she would. She had already failed him once.

She would never fail him again.

The End.

A/N: Aww. I just love B/A hurt/comfort so much! :D Thanks for reading, everyone, and please review while I work on my next Bangle story!


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